Hell Frozen Over
by R. Jeanette
Summary: Little bird, he realized. Robyn, bird, made sense. She reminded him or himself, cold and white and skinny as the bones that supported them. "Nico," he told her as he smiled back slightly; the first smile he had given anyone in months. "Nice to meet you, Nico," she told him. "Welcome to Hell, frozen over."
1. The Beginning

**Hullo, public. Just so you are aware:**

**In this fic, Nico is not **_**gay**_** but more **_**questioning. **_**That is **_**not **_**a statement against gay culture. Honestly. I have family and friends who are gay and have been to my share of gay pride events. I just have an idea in my idea and this is way it's writing itself. So don't read into it.**

**Secondly, ages are a bit different here. I've moved Annabeth and Percy to 17/18 and Nico to 17. The other demigods are all 16/17/18 as well. Not that I don't love the way the books are, but I feel like certain concepts are deserving of an older cast.**

**This began as an idea I couldn't get out of my head and I was curious how the reception would be. After you've read it, please give me a review with feedback. Should I continue? Would anyone read it? Have ideas? I'd love to hear from you.**

**Without further ado…**

A castle made from ice was not an ideal situation for a son of Hades. The walls, glistening in the gentle sunlight that was able to filter through, the cold chill to the air, and the quiet that seemed to permeate the air all reminded Nico how far he was from home.

He was still slightly fuzzy as to how he had landed himself stuck here. He had assisted Reyna in getting the Athena Parthenos from one side of the world to the other, he knew. It took a few days, seeing as he was responsible for carrying not only himself but also two demigods and a gigantic statue. Nevertheless, they arrived at camp and Reyna had ran off with Frank to sooth the Roman forces. Nico had chosen to leave them then, not wanting to see the camp he once had called home. From the tree that had once housed Thalia, to the lake that Percy used to spend his days lazing in with his blonde arm candy, the entire camp hurt to look at.

But then, it was all about Percy, wasn't it? It had started innocent; a young boy looking up to the hero of the century. Nothing unusual. But as time had progressed, Nico noticed his feelings of hero-worship morphed to something else entirely. He found himself imagining a universe in which he was with Percy, once and for all, without the girl who had snatched him up. And every time he saw the two of them together, it caused him to ache. It was dumb, the two of them were the power couple. They needed one another. But yet…

He couldn't hate Annabeth, not really. Yes, he was jealous with every fiber of his being. That was inevitable. But she kept Percy safe and led the group through trial after trial. Nico doubted he himself would have been able to act as she had. Thus, he was stuck.

It was this internal rambling that had put him into the position he was in now.

The mistake had been a moronic one. He had shadow traveled out of the camp, not picturing a place to go but rather reflecting on how cold he felt inside when Annabeth and Percy interacted and how desperate he was to get away. A little detail with catastrophic results. Because in that brief moment of time, some God out there had said "_You know what we haven't done in a while? Mess with Nico." _They had taken the opportunity to have him travel to the one place he couldn't get out: the goddess of Winter's throne room.

The room had been built purely of ice. This was hard enough to maneuver in itself, seeing as the floor liked to slip away from him, but ice also lets in light. This meant no shadows to speak of. This meant that Nico was now trapped in a throne room with a woman who hated his friend's guts and felt no particular love toward him.

"What is this?" she hissed in surprise, eyes widening upon noticing his pale figure, decked in black. "How did you get in here?" she questioned angrily.

"A mistake, I assure you," Nice muttered as he backed up and put his hand on his sword. Though he doubted he would be able to keep himself from being frozen on the spot, knowing the stygian iron sword was just a wrist flick away assured him.

"You're a demigod," Khione growled as she stood from her throne and stalked toward him. Her brothers, dumb and dumber, flanked her on either side. "Are you here for that nasty Piper girl?" she questioned him, stalking forward and causing snowflakes to swirl dramatically.

"Muffins!" Calais cheered from behind her.

"That girl," Zethes scowled. "To think, I used to want _her_," he scoffed, shaking his head. "Much happier with my little bird," he informed Nico, as if he was supposed to know what the immortal was referencing.

"No, I'm not here for anyone," Nico told her calmly, even as his mind whirled for an escape plan. "I'm not really sure how I got here, actually. But I'll just be on my way," he said as he turned on his heel and walked quickly toward the exit.

"Oh no!" he heard from behind him before he could no longer move his muscles. Glancing down, he noticed a thick block of ice encompassing his body. He internally groaned as the ice queen and her posse walked to observe his face. "Can't have you leaving quite yet, cutie," she purred as she tilted her head. "I think you'll make a wonderful statue, don't you, Zethes?"

"Oh yes," Zethes agreed as he eyed the teenager before him.

"In fact," Khione said suddenly, "he would look terrific with your little pet, wouldn't he?" Zethes looked uneasy at the suggestion. "Oh, calm brother. I'm not freezing her right his moment. But it holds promise, doesn't it?" she asked him with a purse of her lips. She reached over to him and Nico panicked internally but she merely grabbed his sword from him, observing it in the light.

"Promise! Statues!" Calais yelped in the background.

"But she's mine," Zethes frowned at his sister. "You said that because I lost the other one, I could keep this one. She's _my_ pet," he grumped.

"Yes, yes," Khione said dismissively as she took another look at the sword and put it in the hanger on her hip. "Why don't we put this one in the dungeons right by her and if we decide later we don't want to keep her, we'll freeze them together. Hmm?" she looked to her brother. "Is that agreeable?" Zethes nodded, still looking thoughtful. "Charming. You two bring him down, then. And feed your pet. She's been looking a tad peckish lately." With that, the goddess walked back to her throne and watched as her brother lifted the frozen boy up and carried him from the room.

While watching the conversation take place, Nico had become more and more antsy. He remembered hearing of Zethes' obsession with Piper and how he had tried to steal her away to be his "pet." Apparently he had found a new girl to keep under wraps. If Nico could scowl, he would. He wasn't a big fan of being kept in a small space, not since he spent what seemed like years in a box with nothing but a few seeds for nourishment. No one deserved to be treated like that -he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy.

"Bird!" Calais sung out as they entered the dungeons. His shout was met with silence as they dragged Nico to an open cell.

"Your new home," Zethes sneered as he shoved Nico in and locked the door behind him. "You'll be able to move in a few minutes," he told him, eyeing the gothic teen. "Don't be stupid or you'll be frozen," he threatened before turning to his brother. "Go join sister. I will be up in a minute."

"Sister?" Calais questioned.

"Yes, you oaf," Zethes growled. "Go." After watching the younger brother leave, the immortal turned to the cell next to Nicos'. "Hello, pet," he said lowly as he stalked toward the bars. Nico strained his ears, but could not make out the response other than a quiet mumble. "Now, now," Zethes chuckled. "Let's be nice."

"Why should I?" a quiet, feminine voice snapped back. Nico was struck by how rough the words were, spoken from a dry, neglected throat.

"Well you've been here for how long now? Months? And no one has come looking," Zethes reminded her with a mocking frown. "No one cares enough to search for you, do they? But I care. I protect you from sister. I protected you from those rude humans."

"I would have been fine!" the voice growled. "And it's no wonder no one has come looking, my friends are _normal_ and _human. _Unlike whatever the hell you are!" Nico winced internally at the words, knowing they would meet an unkind response.

Zethes froze for a moment before shaking his head slowly, condescendingly. "You still think you are human, silly bird," he chuckled as he walked up to the bars and leaned against them. "You still hold out hope that you will be rescued. But the problem with that is this," he paused, eyes flickering to Nico for a brief moment before turning back to the cage. "No one knows you're here and no one cares," he simpered before turning around and walking to the door. "You can wait another day before being fed, can't you?" he laughed before swinging the door shut with a bang.

The room fell into a heavy silence. Nico couldn't hear anything from the girl in the cell next to him so instead focused on getting out of his ice encasement. After a minute of wriggling, he was able to move his head, hands, and feet. He clawed at the ice on his arms desperately wanting to be free.

"It's not use," the voice called out. Nico froze and looked up. "The ice," she clarified. "It melts as it wants. All you'll do is tear your fingernails."

"Are you speaking from experience?" he snapped, raising a brow at the dark corner. He couldn't see into where she was but there was a torch behind him so chances were that she could see him.

The voice, however, was silent.

Nico sighed and closed his eyes. "Look, sorry. I'm just not a fan of not being able to move, ok?" he asked. "I don't mean to be rude." He went silent and groaned internally, figuring he had ruined his chances of making a comrade in the imprisonment.

"It's fine," he could hear from right by his right side. He jolted and spun his head quickly to look where the voice had been. To his surprise, however, all that stood before him was a wall.

"Where are you?" he questioned, eyes darting frantically around him. His question was met with a quiet giggle from a coarse throat.

"I've had time on my hands," she told him. "I know just where to speak to have it echo," she gave a dry laugh. "At the moment, I am in the cell next to you whispering into a crack in the wall."

Nico was surprised but did not dwell on it seeing as he could feel his control over his muscles returning. He took the opportunity to stand and stretch, breathing easier now that he was not completely helpless. Reaching for the ceiling, he heard a quiet gasp from her and he quickly pulled down his shirt, hiding the scars from her sight. He couldn't blame her for reacting to the obvious and ugly marks that adorned his skin. She was probably accustomed to looking at the perfection of Gods at this point. "Sorry," he muttered, feeling his face redden. He sat with his back against the cold wall, facing the black cell before him.

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes before he heard shuffling. He looked up and had to bite back the automatic intake of breath at the sudden appearance of the body before him.

The girl stood shorter than him, likely 5' 7 or so. Her brown hair tumbled past her waist but was greasy and obviously unkempt from spending time in the dungeons. She wore jeans (the skinny kind humans seemed so fond of) and a t-shirt with some kind of blue phone box on it and the worlds "Smaller on the Inside" written in curly white below it. Her shoes looked almost like snow boots, but were made from a light leather instead of sturdy plastic, making them seem fairly feeble. The things that he noticed most about her, however, were the ice crystals that clung to her skin. Her lips were blue and her skin as white as his, though as she moved it glittered from the crystals that clung to her. She looked like she had been dipped in dry ice and had somehow survived.

She smiled slightly; a tilt to one side of her mouth. "I'm Robyn," she told him.

_Little bird,_ he realized. Robyn, bird, made sense. She reminded him or himself, cold and white and skinny as the bones that supported them.

"Nico," he told her as he smiled back slightly, the first smile he had given anyone in months.

"Nice to meet you, Nico. Welcome to Hell frozen over."

**Please excuse my errors that I am sure I missed. I did not have anyone to aid me in proofreading.**

**Again, shall I continue? Anyone interested? Honestly, I need reviews to feel inspiration to continue. So please let me hear from you!**

**Much love,**

**R. Jeanette**


	2. The Plan

**Hullo, all!**

**Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed, followed, favorited, and said you wanted more. This was written for you as a gift to celebrate the New Year. (:**

Time seemed to move a lot slower than usual in the ice prison. It was impossible to keep track of exactly what time it was, seeing as the sun was blurred behind the thick panes of ice and there were no clocks lying around. Still, when Nico decided to measure time by his breaths, he noticed that the sun did not move as fast as it should.

When he shared his findings with Robyn, she was silent for a minute before asking a single question: "What's the date?"

"Sometime in August," Nico told her. "I think I've been here for about a week so the month hasn't changed yet. I think." Though he couldn't measure the time in days, his body still required sleep and it had been seven long sleeps since he had been captured and thrown into his frozen cell.

She was quiet once more before asking, very quietly, "What year?"

After that conversation, Robyn had moved to the dark of her cell and stayed silent for a full day. He could sense that she was grieving, though he wondered over what. Could she had been there for a year? The days before she was not particularly chatty, especially with her throat in the state that is was, but she at least told him a little bit about her and their situation. The two of them had been fed the day after he was captured and again once a day since then. The food, despite being cold and tasteless, nourished Nico wonderfully and despite his only eating once a day, he noticed that he was less boney already.

He also spent a majority of his days exercising within the five by six foot cell he was being held in. He had never been a fan of physical exertion like sports in the past, much preferring his Mythomagic. Now, however, he had plenty of time on his hands to get fit like the other demigods he spent his time with.

Like Percy.

Robyn had told him that being a prisoner there wasn't too bad, so long as they forgot you existed. "When they forgot about me, I just spent my time by myself. Boring and quiet but peaceful, in a way. It's only when Zethes gets bored and comes down that, well," she paused, shaking her head in the dim lighting. "I much prefer being forgotten."

Zethes had visited twelve times in the seven days. Each time he came down, he badgered Robyn with questions and tried to entice her to join him and "rule the winter," as he put it.

"What else will you do, little bird?" he would ask her. "Sit in here, in the dark, with no one but the death scum to keep you company? Marry me. Become immortal with me and be able to enjoy the sun," he offered, resting his forehead on the bars and smiling at her. She typically stayed silent, only occasionally snapping back at him when his words turned threatening.

"I'd sooner freeze," she would tell him dryly.

Nico admired her attitude but grimaced each time she spoke back at the immortal. Sometimes he would chuckle and walk away but sometimes, when he felt particularly vengeful, he would open his hand and blast cold air into the cell before leaving. Nico could then hear her sneeze and hear the sound of her teeth chattering for hours afterward, until her body heat rose to a decent temperature.

Needless to say, that fueled Nico's fire to work on improving himself even more. He wanted to be able to get himself out but, what's more, he wanted to be able to save her and be the hero for once. She didn't even cry _once_ the entire time it was happening, and that made Nico feel worse. What had she been through to be numb to such pain?

"Nico," she whispered to him on the dawning of the eighth day. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah," he grumbled as he pulled himself into a sitting position. They had supplied him with a blanket, at least, but it didn't do much to keep off the chill of the floor. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she sighed. "I was just wondering if you would tell me about that camp you went to, the demigod one." Nico really didn't like discussing Camp Halfblood but if it kept her talking and energetic, he was willing to make the sacrifice.

"It was warm," he began, chuckling bitterly. "Different than here. There were cabins are lined up, each one for a God or Goddess."

"And you stayed in the Hades cabin, right?"

"Yep," he nodded. "At first there were only cabins for the major gods but after" pause and swallow "Percy saved Olympus, he had them make cabins for the minor gods, too." Robyn went silent but Nico could hear the sound of her picking her nails. "This is a little awkward," he began thoughtfully, "so, sorry, but," he paused, "are you a human or a demigod?"

Robyn moved into the light of the torch and looked at Nico before shrugging her shoulders. "I always thought I was human, you know? I mean, I thought tarot cards and spirit guides and those things were cool but I thought they were just this, hobby, almost." She sighed and shook her head. "I'm not sure anymore, though. I was really good at those things, is the problem," she looked up at him again and met his eyes, "I mean, _really_ good. I thought I was special but now I think I might be a demigod. I never knew my mom so it would make sense," she shrugged.

"Which Goddess do you think could be your mom?" he questioned, scooting forward. "There's Athena, Demeter, Aphrodite, Hestia, Iris, Nemesis, Nike, Tyche, Hecate…" he trailed off. "Any of those stand out to you?"

"One of the H ones," she told him firmly. At his look of confusion, she elaborated. "My dad got a tattoo on his right arm, a big H with vines all around it. Whenever I asked, he always said it was for my mom but he wouldn't tell me any more. After a while, I stopped asking. But still, it must be one of the H ones. What were they again?" Once Nico had reminded her, she tilted her head in thought. "Is one of them magic-y?" she asked. Nico laughed lightly and nodded.

"Hecate is Goddess of Magic," he told her. "It fits, too."

"Daughter of Hecate, the Goddess," Robyn mused to herself, rolling her eyes. Her face soon soured, however, and she glared at the ceiling. "Well come on then, mom!" she growled. "Help me out here! Can't you see what I've been through? What I've suffered? Why leave your daughter in this place for fou-" she cut off, eyes darting to Nico. She bit her lip and put her head in her hands, hiding her face. "I guess I just wanted to believe that I was normal, that my own mom wasn't choosing to ignore me," she sighed.

"It's been a busy couple of years," Nico told her slowly, brows furrowed. "War after war; they haven't had a lot of time to themselves. And Gods really aren't perfect. Sometimes… people get forgotten," he said darkly as he fiddled with his skull ring. "You can't let their bad habits eat at you or it will ruin you," he warned her, frowning to himself. "It's happened before."

She was silent for several hours after that. It was almost lonely, to be by himself in a cell and to know that company was a few feet away but silent and untouchable. So instead, he took initiative and spent his energy buffing himself. At the beginning, Robyn ignored him and stayed in her corner. But the more he did it, he could feel her eyes on him, watching curiously.

"I'm going to be ready," he explained to her as he continued his crunches. "We're going to get out of here and I'm going to be prepared for it."

"What makes you think that we will?" she asked him. "Not to be rude but I've been here for a long time and there was never any opportunity to escape. They never even opened my door," she sighed.

"So that's what we need," he nodded. "We need for one of them to let us both out."

"Calais?" she asked him thoughtfully. "If we could offer him something, food or fun, he might let us out."

Nico nodded with renewed energy. "Yeah, that would work. Maybe we could use clothing and food and make something… This could work!" When his statement was met with silence, he looked over at Robyn's downcast face. "What?"

"He never comes down here, nor does Khione. Just Zethes does and we'll never get out of here because of him," she sighed, laying her head back against the wall and closing her eyes.

Nico's mind, however, was whirring.

Robyn didn't seem like much of a fighter. She had spent her life not even knowing that she was a demigod, so chances were that she had not had an opportunity to improve or build on her powers. She was dangerously thin from starvation and weak from the cold. Overall, if she _did _get an opportunity to fight her way out, she probably wouldn't be able to.

But she, unlike he, had a chance of getting out.

Zethes still asked her every day if she would join him, and she still said no. By now, the response was likely a knee-jerk reaction. But if she said _yes_, would she be able to get out? Or possibly send a message to the camp, at least? Nico hoped that by this point, it was clear to them that he was gone. He knew the ice around him was enchanted against Iris messages and the system had been faulty as of lately anyway, so trying to send one from the cell was useless. But if Robyn could get above ground and send one to Percy, they could have a real chance of escape.

The problem would be asking Robyn to do such a thing.

She quite obviously hated Zethes and the very ground he walked on. Nico had no way of knowing exactly what had occurred between the two but he was able to put together that much. To make his plan possible, she would have to act in love. Happy, sappy, and utterly in love. He glanced over at the ball she had curled into, the flecks of snow clinging to her skin, and rolled his eyes at himself. The chances that it would work were so miniscule, so unlikely, they were hardly worth mentioning. Yet…

"Hey, Robyn," he began slowly, avoiding her eyes. "Have you ever thought about playing along with him? Y'know, pretend then escape?"

"Yes," she told him frankly. When he looked up, he found her staring at him. "But I never had a plan after that and once I agree, I have no idea what he would ask of me," she frowned. "I don't like leaving myself open to that, I guess."

"What if I had a plan?" he asked, scrutinizing her face. "You would play along, get to the open air, and send a message to my… friends… who could come and get us."

"Send a message how?" she asked him skeptically, deciding to ignore his hesitance at naming the people he knew as 'friends.'

"They're called Iris messages. You just need a rainbow, easy enough in a winter palace with a little ice and sunlight, and a drachma. That might be harder to find," he admitted. "But there's bound to be one lying around somewhere, right?"

"And what would I do with mist and a _drachma_?" she asked him, the word coming out awkward and foreign. "Whatever that is."

"It's a gold coin," he explained. "You just need to face the rainbow, say 'O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering' and throw the coin in. Then say 'Percy Jackson, Camp Halfblood' and explain our situation here. Simple."

Silence reigned for a few moments before Robyn responded. "You really think this could work?"

Nico nodded. "I do. The Gods owe you some help, don't they? We could cash in on that now and get out of here." Robyn looked at him and bit her lip before glancing at the door.

"It's worth a shot," she sighed. "Next time he comes in, I'll try. I cn't make any promises, though," she warned him. Nico just shook his head at her, a grin plastered on his face. Maybe, this time, he wouldn't be helpless. He could prove his worth.

Zethes didn't come visit for the rest of the day, much to Robyn's dismay. After she had gotten over her initial misgivings, she decided that this would likely be the only way she could ever be free of the ice palace and to not act on it would be foolish. That being said, however, the more she thought about it the more she wanted to curl into a ball and stay where she was. For so long, the four walls around her had been all she knew. This was an opportunity for change and she just wasn't sure if she was ready for it.

"Today," Nico told her quietly, as soon as he was sure she was awake.

"Today," she agreed quietly, nodding her head and picking at her ragged nails.

"Remember everything?" he asked her.

"Yes."

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

"Absolutely sure?"

"Yes, Nico."

"Do you need me to–"

"Bloody hell, Nico, I can do this," she groaned, throwing an arm across her eyes. "If you ask me if I'm ready one more time, I will not be held responsible for my actions." Nico chuckled quietly and nodded to himself. "And, Nico," she began again, slowly. "If I can't do this, if it doesn't work, I mean, I want you to–" she was unable to complete her sentence for, at that moment, Zethes strode into the room. He didn't even spare Nico a glance as his eyes landed on Robyn.

"Hello, pet," he grinned, walking up to her and tilting his head. "Not hiding today?" he teased.

"No," she said quietly, standing up but keeping her eyes on the floor. "Hello." Zethes raised a brow and scoffed.

"Now you speak? What brought this about?" he asked her, his cold eyes glued to her face before flickering to Nico suspiciously. Robyn kept her eyes on the floor as she took a step toward the bars, toward him, causing him to swing his attention back to her. For the first time in a long time, she was now within his reach.

"I thought that, um, maybe it was time I stopped all my, uh, pouting," she told him haltingly. Luckily, Nico thought, the pauses could be written off to her poor health. Zethes seemed to take no notice, however, as he stepped closer.

"Really, little bird? You are finally giving up this ridiculous fight?" he asked he hopefully.

"Yes," Robyn said as she dragged her eyes up to meet hers. While his blue ones were cold and calculating, her hazel ones seemed to glow warmly. "I realized, after watching him," she nodded to Nico, "that I didn't want to spend eternity as a statue with him. I would much rather be with you, ruling the winter." She smiled up at him and even Nico was shocked. She seemed so utterly love struck, so happy, he almost questioned whether it was real or not.

Zethes smiled and reached down to the lock. With a flick of his hand, it was opened. It seemed to only work through magic, Nico noted, which was unfortunate but not impossible to work with. "Come, then," the immortal smirked, holding out his hand. "Let's get you out of here." Robyn froze for a moment before slowly extending her hand to him, placing her thin, white hand in his much larger, tanner one. His closed around hers like a steel trap and he began walking quickly to the door, pulling Robyn stumbling behind him. "It'll be fantastic, I figure we'll marry in the throne room-" his voice cut off as the door shut behind them.

Nico sighed, resting his head in his hands. It was out of his control now. He just prayed to the Gods, the very ones he swore he would never pray to again, that nothing would go wrong.

**So, let's make this a game. For every 1 review this gets, I'll write the chapter 100 words longer. That means 10 people and you get a chapter 1,000 words longer than the previous. Easy enough, yeah?**

**I love to hear from you. Anyone think a romance between Nico and Robyn is on the horizon? Or their plan; any ideas or risks you think they might face?**

**Tata for now,**

**R. Jeanette **


	3. The Gears Start Grinding

**So, I'm a really bad person who is easily distracted. Apologies. If anyone is interested in being a beta reader, let me know! (At the moment I don't have anyone to catch my mistakes or badger me about writing more often and I could use both (: )**

**And so, welcome to HFO.**

The woman who stood before Nico was ethereal in her beauty. Her hair, which shimmered in the light, seemed to be made of pure gold and her eyes, which danced delightfully, shone like crystals. She was dressed in a white silk Greek gown that brushed at her calves as she walked slowly toward him. "Nico!" she smiled, pulling him to her in a crushing hug. "My darling, it is so grand to see you!"

"Aphrodite," Nico responded, trying to resist the temptation of sniffing her perfume. He had had experience with love potions and scents before and knew they were very dangerous things. Besides, if he were to make her angry, he could end up falling in love with a sheep for Zeus' sake.

"My dear, you look so much better," she sighed as she walked around him. He tried to follow her with his eyes but ended up getting dizzy in the process. "I love this buff look you have going for you, it's just…" she sighed, "lovely."

Nico scowled and crossed his arms across his chest. A God or Goddess didn't typically pull you into a dream unless the message was extremely important. Trust Aphrodite to play with him first. "Why am I here?" he asked her shortly.

The Goddess laughed, a sound that reminded Nico of chiming bells. "I'm here to do you a _favor!_" she informed him. "Your love story is the best one since Percy and Annabeth and, even then, we all knew how that was going to turn out. But this…" she paused, taking an opportunity to pick a rose for a nearby bush and place it in her hair, "this is so much _better!" _

"What love story?" Nico asked cautiously. He imagined how this was going to go, and it wasn't something he wanted to deal with. Especially not from the Goddess of Love herself.

"Your tragic crush, sweetie," she giggled. "Percy and Annabeth were fated from the very beginning to be together. I made sure of it! Oh, I threw in a few things here and there to keep it interesting but it was _so _obvious, even from first sighting, how it was going to end," she shrugged. "It lost its flavor. But this–this is new and fresh!" But suddenly, without so much as a _Ciao!, _she disappeared and Nico was left facing an empty garden.

"Hello?" he called out cautiously, taking a step forward. Maybe, with her gone, he could get some actual sleep.

"Gracious!" he heard from behind him. Once he turned, he noticed she was now in Roman garb with a purple rose in her hair. "That is _so _annoying. Anyway," she chirped, moving toward Nico with purpose. "You loving Percy, blind to the potential true love before you… it makes for fantastic entertainment!" she informed him cheerfully.

"What are you talking about?" he snapped. "I don't want any part of your sick games," he growled as he reached for where his sword would normally be. Realizing it was still gone, he settled for taking a couple menacing steps forward. "Leave my life _alone. _I am _done _with Gods interfering with my life."

"Silly boy," the Goddess said affectionately, patting his cheek. "You'll never be free of us," she laughed before skipping to a nearby bench and sitting herself down. She took the rose from her hair and began picking the petals, muttering under her breath. Nico walked up to her and stood before the goddess.

"Please," he said quietly. He almost found it hard to believe what he was doing but he had become so desperate, so tired, begging wasn't out of the question. "Please don't make it worse," he clarified as he scratched the back of his neck. "I don't need for my life to get harder."

Aphrodite looked up at him and smiled. "Well, things must get worse before they get better, musn't they? You have to fight for what you want, instead of running away like you are so fond of doing." She set the flower in her lap and looked him dead in the eye. "Follow your heart, Nico di Angelo. Do as it bids you and let others help you mend it. Or you'll end up as desperate and lonely as your father," she told him softly before flicking her hair over her shoulder.

Suddenly, Nico's vision began to grow blurry. The colors of the flowers ran together and he got one last glimpse of the Goddess, plucking the last petal and singing out "He loves!" before his vision went black.

Robyn felt more suffocated now than she had in a long time.

Zethes had bustled her about, showing her off to those in the throne room with a proud exclamation of "she loves me now!" before leading her down the winding hallways to a new room, one filled from floor to ceiling with mirrors. "Take care of her, make her pretty for me," he told the empty room before turning on his heel and shutting the door behind him. Robyn stood there, confused, for only a few seconds before the very air around her began moving. Bottles of various shapes, sizes, and colors flew all around her as she was pushed into a bathtub, already full. She could feel the hands manipulating her, she could watch the soap and various products squirt from their spouts to be scrubbed on her viciously, but to see it all being done by invisible beings was a sight she doubted she'd experience again anytime soon. Her skin was then rubbed raw from the invisible servants before she was lifted up, dried off, forced into a in a light blue gown, and thrust into a chair.

She was only twelve when she was taken to the ice palace. She had been sitting on a bench in her favorite park, crying to herself. A couple girls at school had harassed her about why her mother didn't come to Mother's day and when she had been unable to conjure up as much as a name, they took it upon themselves to make fun of her for it. Though Robyn wasn't quite she how he found her, he had seen her plight and had offered her both a shoulder to cry on and a person to confide in, two things she had been lacking. She had had friends at school, sure, but none of them bothered to check in to see if she was okay. She saw this new boy and hoped that maybe, just maybe, he could be all she needed. They spoke for hours before she told him she had to go home and waved goodbye.

It was then that his face, once cheerful and sympathetic, had morphed into something much darker.

He grabbed her elbow in an iron grip and brought her closer to him, smirking slightly. "Come with me, little bird," he whispered. "You can be my queen."

She had changed a lot in four years, she noticed absentmindedly. She frowned at the changes. Her skin, once tan from playing sports, was now white like the snow that clung to her. She attempted to scrub it off but it seemed like it had become a part of her, causing her skin to shimmer in the gentle lighting. Her hair, which was being lifted by an invisible body and blown dry, was very dark in contrast due to a lack of sunlight. It was much longer than she had thought; but then, she hadn't really cared when she was sitting in a cell.

The invisible hands forced her eyes closed as they applied mysterious products to her face. She had never had a mom to explain such things to her and, after being trapped for four years, she was clueless as to what was being applied. She opened her mouth to protest but a toothbrush was instead thrust into her mouth, drenched in minty toothpaste, and it began scrubbing furiously. The entire process seemed to stretch on for a long time before, finally, she was released entirely. Robyn opened her eyes and raised a brow at the version of her that stared back in slight disbelief.

Her hair, once disguising and greasy, was now smooth and half of it was piled in rolls at the top of her head. Her skin was still deathly pale, no makeup had been added to her cheeks, but chandelier crystal earrings adorned her ears.

She felt like a Barbie that had been left in an ice bath for too long.

Robyn was fairly sure that she was alone now, however, so she took the opportunity to stand up and look around the room for that coin Nico said she would need. The gown she was wearing did not have pockets, but she decided that anything she needed could be hidden under the folds of the dress. To her disappointment, no such coins were anywhere in the room. A few gold necklaces were, though, so she tucked those into the cloth. Nico never said about anything other than the coin working, but it was worth a shot.

Taking a deep breath, Robyn moved to the door and turned the handle, slightly surprised when it opened easily. She was tempted to run out, to use this chance, but she would probably get lost in the maze of hallways that it took to get where she was. Besides, she needed to find a rainbow and she wouldn't find anything wandering around aimlessly on her own. "Hello?" she called out. "Zethes?" she asked the empty air.

"Pet," she heard from behind her. Jumping slightly, she turned to face the immortal. "You look… like a queen," he purred as he lifted her hand to his mouth and gently kissed the back of it. He then threaded her arm through his, clasping her hand on his arm. "I knew you would come to me eventually," he smirked. "And you are much more fitting at this age. I had originally planned to wait until you were eighteen to make you immortal and marry you but I'm not quite as sure we should wait that long any more," he told her thoughtfully.

"Oh, but we have to," she said quickly. When he turned to frown at her, she shot him an innocent smile. "I need time to plan the perfect wedding, darling. The wedding that all the other weddings will be jealous of. The wedding of the century!" she insisted. "And I can't become immortal until we're married so they have to both wait."

Zethes nodded to himself, weighing his options. Her argument made sense; women were an odd species that treasured such events. But yet, he almost felt like it could be a trick of some sort. She was deadly smart when she was twelve, he could only image how she had progressed. "I will wait a week," he told her reasonably.

At his declaration, Robyn could feel her face losing all its color. "A–A _week_?" she asked him, her mouth opening and closing again several times. "But… but that's no time at all!" She had been hoping that she could put it so far off that it would have no effect in her plans. Clearly, someone out there was attempting to make life more difficult for her.

"Do you need longer than that?" he frowned, looking down at her.

"Well, there's the food, flowers, catering, band, guests, seating, cake, dress, bridesmaids…" she trailed off, looking at him with wide eyes. "Please, at least a month," she begged of him. Zethes sighed but nodded.

"A month," he agreed before his face lit up once more. "It will be glorious and we will be linked for eternity," he grinned largely before pausing, his face turning thoughtful. "We can be rid of that death boy now, then, if you will not be made a statue with him. Khione can freeze him now."

"F-freeze him?" she sputtered. "But, you can't do that!"

Zethes turned to face her better. "Why not?" he frowned.

"Well," she said slowly, scrambling for a good reason to put off Nico's demise. "I think he'd make a rather perfect… wedding gift," she told him beseechingly.

"We can freeze him now and I will present him to you on our wedding day," he nodded.

"No, it's not that same," she implored. "It would be much more special to freeze him the day of, make it part of the entertainment, you know?" Talking like this was making Robyn's stomach hurt but after Nico's help, she couldn't let him to turned into a popsicle on her watch.

"Fine," he sighed. "We will freeze the death scum on our wedding day. The beginning of our eternity."

"Oh yes, eternity," Robyn promised sarcastically. Luckily for her, her tone seemed to pass right over his head. "But in the mean time, I wonder if I could please see a room to stay in?" she asked him, fluttering her lashes and smiling gently. "I'm awfully tired and would love the use of a comfortable bed."

Zethes nodded. "My room is this way," he said, motioning her ahead of him.

"Your room?" she asked, eyes widening.

"Well you are to be my wife, and married couples share, do they not?" he asked, raising a brow at her.

"Well, yes," she admitted. "But we are not married yet. Where I come from, a couple doesn't share a bed until they are married!" she told him quickly. "Or kiss!" she added for her own benefit. "We have to wait, my dear. Only wait a month," she told him as she lay a hand on his cheek. "It will be no time at all." Zethes grumbled but could not find a fault in her logic.

"We will follow your traditions," he sighed. "The guest room is just here, then," he informed her, pointing to a set of double doors that stood several feet taller than her. "May you find rest there," he told her as he opened the door and ushered her inside.

The room itself was grand. The walls were made of ice, like everything else, but the bed looked soft and the light that filtered in was not too bright. The thing that perked Robyn up the most, however, was the fountain in the corner. A fountain meant water, water meant mist, and mist with light could give her her rainbow.

"Well, good night," she told him cheerfully. Noticing his reluctance, she stretched largely and yawned. "I'll see you in the morning, okay?" she asked him.

"Yes, I will see you in a few short hours," he promised her as he performed a low bow and left the room, locking the door behind him.

Robyn sighed. Well, she wasn't leaving through _that_ door anyway. Even though she had only been talking to him for an hour or two, Zethes was already wearing on her patience. It was like talking to a six-year old. He had ideas of his own, yes, but they were all awful and shallow. What she wouldn't give to be able to talk to Nico once more.

Walking over to the fountain, her spirits soared. The sun was at such an angle that there was already a rainbow, albeit very dim, in the waters. It might be her only chance, however, so she decided to seize it. Taking the gold jewelry out of her dress, she clasped it in her hands and frowned. "What were the words?" she cried out quietly. "Oh, Iris," she began. "Goddess of… Rainbows?" she continued, her voice taking on a questioning lilt. "Please accept my offering," she begged before she closed her eyes and tossed the necklaces into the rainbow.

When she didn't hear the clatter of them hitting the floor, she opened her eyes and looked around. The necklaces were gone. Vanished into the mist.

Sputtering slightly, she looked at the rainbow and shrugged slightly. "Um, Percy Jackson, Halfblood Camp," she told the mist. At first, it didn't react and she could feel her heart sinking in her chest. After a moment, however, it seemed to understand what she was trying to say and began to spin like a washing machine before solidifying in a circle, forming a port hole.

"Um, hello?" she called out into the dark image.

Annabeth kicked when she slept.

Percy had noticed the first time they had slept next to each other but this was worse than he remembered. The two of them hadn't been apart at all since they returned from the Underworld, for good reason. The helplessness the two of them felt was daunting and, frankly, terrifying. So they had been sharing Percy's bed.

That was before Annabeth had literally kicked him out of his own bed, however.

Grumbling to himself, Percy stood and made his way toward the door. If he wasn't going to sleep, he might as well reaffirm himself with the camp. Maybe stop by and say hello to Blackjack. He exited his cabin and walked toward the lake at a leisurely pace.

"Um, hello?" a girl's voice asked from behind him. Spinning, he uncapped Riptide and held it up toward where the noise had come from. "Is that a sword? What are you doing with a sword? I'm not even there!" the girl cried out. Coming to himself, Percy realized he had just tried to attack an Iris message. Smooth.

"Sorry," he sighed, capping the sword and putting it back in his pocket. Looking up, however, he was confused. "Sorry, do I know you?" he asked the girl on the other side of the message. The lighting was awful and he couldn't make out the details of her face, only that she had dark hair and light skin. She reminded him of Nico.

"No, you don't," the girl replied. She seemed to be whispering, leaning in to the projection and glancing over her shoulder every few moments. "Look, are you Percy? Nico's Percy?"

Percy felt his eyebrows rise in surprise. He had been wondering where Nico was but it wasn't unlike him to disappear with a trace for periods of time and he had assumed that was what it was. "You know Nico?" he questioned, slightly suspicions.

"Yes," she nodded. "But that's not why I'm calling. You need to come get him out of here," she informed Percy. "He's here, trapped in the dungeons of Khione's castle. He said that if I did this weird message thing, you would come help him." Percy could feel his face draining of all its blood.

Nico had always been like a little sibling to Percy. When he was younger, he was obnoxious. That was true. But as he grew up, Percy felt a stronger brotherly bond with him than he had with Tyson, even. To hear that he was a prisoner anywhere was frightening.

"Yeah, we will. Is he okay? Is he being fed?" he questioned, concerned that Nico was undergoing the same torture he had been mere months ago.

"He's alive," she told him stoically. "Just–hurry, okay?" she implored.

"We will," Percy vowed.

Robyn could feel the weight that had been on her shoulders lighten substantially. She had done her part, it was now out of her hands. "When do you think you can…" she trailed off, tilting her head to the side suddenly before her eyes grew wide. "Someone's coming!" she hissed, frantically looking around the room. "Make this go away!"

"Wait, a person?" Percy asked her quickly. "Before you go, who are you? Please, tell me about Nico. I'm worried and–"

"No time!" Robyn cried out, her hands woven into the base of her scalp. "How do I hide this foggy thing?" she asked him as she stood up and moved toward the door, pressing her ear to the ice.

"Just wave something through it," Percy instructed her. Unfortunately, at that moment, she could see the door handle turn as she was standing right next to it. There was no time to get all the way across the room again. Praying to whatever Gods were out there, she peeled off her shoe and threw it as hard as she could in the general area of the rainbow communication before turning back to the door just as it swung open.

"Little bird," Khione sneered as she entered the chamber, eyes darting about quickly. She seemed to notice the shoe in the corner of the room for her gaze turned to Robyn's bare foot with which the girl clarified, "I was frustrated." "I hear you have agreed to my brother's proposal," she began, pursing her lips as she sashayed past the younger girl. "I was merely curious as to why, four years later, you have seem to have fallen for his charms. Right after we gained a new prisoner, no less," she added before turning to Robyn and raising a haughty brow.

"It wasn't all Nico," Robyn told the Goddess, hands fumbling together behind her back. "I had been thinking about it for a while, since my birthday," she admitted. "But after seeing him in there with me it made me realize that I didn't want to be like him. I didn't want to be doomed. I wanted a chance to live and if it means that I spend eternity with a guy who seems to really like me, well," she shrugged, "it can't be all bad, can it?"

Khione nodded shortly, still eyeing the demigod with distrust. "And what were you doing over there?" she asked, nodding to the corner of the room where the fountain sat.

Robyn tried to keep herself from paling but decided to turn her back to the Goddess, just to be sure. She walked over to the fountain and reached out for the water, looking at the back of her hand, when an idea struck her. "I was… trying to get off the ice," she told the older woman. "I don't know what to do about it."

Khione rolled her eyes and walked over to inspect her skin. "It won't come off," she told her offhandedly.

"What?" Robyn asked sharply. Khione seemed to find amusement in this, as she lifted both eyebrows and smirked in response.

"That isn't normal ice, my dear. That is pure magic that has latched onto your skin. It will always be a part of you, never coming off," she told her with a cold laugh. "You're really a part of my castle, for my castle has become a part of you." Stepping back, the Goddess of Winter tossed her hair over her shoulder and made her way to the door. "I better not find that you have been betraying my dear brother," she warned, glaring over her shoulder. "Or it will be everlasting cold for you," she vowed before stepping out and swinging the doors shut with a _bang!_

Robyn looked at the door for a moment before wandering over to the bed, collapsing on the sheets. "Nico," she sighed quietly as she shut her eyes. "You'd better know what you're doing."

**Woohoo. So, as I promised, there was 100 extra words for every review (plus more, just because). Same deal again, I guess? Though we're already at 3,800 words so it might be difficult but anyway- 100 words for every one review.**

**Many thanks to those of you who reviewed, followed, favorited. Apologies again for any mistakes I overlooked.**

**With that, I leave you!**

**Bye now,**

**R. Jeanette**


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